Commemorative Visual Aid Speech Assignment

Your name: Marc Derendinger

Topic of your speech: My August Grandfather

General purpose: To inspire

Specific purpose statement: My specific purpose is to inspire my audience by praising Auguste Francois Derendinger

Introduction: Story (details pending word from family)

Credibility step: I have known my Grandfather for almost 28 years.

Central idea: Today I would like to recognize a man who is truly worthy being called August.

Preview: Road map for the audience your main points. (May be part of central idea).

1. Youth and Background
1. War torn Strasbourg
1. family was fragmented
2. Working for the resistance
1. messenger
3. Working for the US foreign consulate
1. as an electrician and projectionist
2. Starting out in America
1. Work
1. sugar factory
2. door-to-door
3. insurance
2. Leadership
1. iconic and stoic ethic
2. morally and emotionally grounded
3. patron to posterity
3. Beacon of Light
1. Kind
2. Charitable
3. Upright

Main Points:

• Introduction "What's in a name?"
• Illustrate the fires that forged him.
• History
• Life in Strasbourg During WW2
•  Transition "Latin Root"
• Describe the waters that tempered him.
• Immigration 
• Starting Life Anew
• Transition "What Makes One Great?"
• Celebrate the oil that polished him.
•  Virtuous Characteristics
• Random Acts of Kindness
• Charitable
• Noble
• Transition "We Should Venerate Virtue"
• Conclusion "Truly Representative of One Who is Great"
• Given Name vs. Chosen Name
• Humility
• Title, not name?
• If we can understand August to mean venerable, then if one exhibits its attributes they are worthy of its title.

What's in a name?

• Means "great" or "venerable," derived from Latin augere "to increase." Augustus was the title given to Octavian, the first Roman emperor. He was the adopted son of Julius Caesar who rose to power through a combination of military skill and political prowess. This was also the name of three kings of Poland.

Augustus for 'August'

• After Julius's grandnephew Augustus defeated Marc Antony and Cleopatra, and became emperor of Rome, the Roman Senate decided that he too should have a month named after him. The month Sextillus (sex = six) was chosen for Augustus, and the senate justified its actions in the following resolution:
• Whereas the Emperor Augustus Caesar, in the month of Sextillis . . . thrice entered the city in triumph . . . and in the same month Egypt was brought under the authority of the Roman people, and in the same month an end was put to the civil wars; and whereas for these reasons the said month is, and has been, most fortunate to this empire, it is hereby decreed by the senate that the said month shall be called Augustus.
• Not only did the Senate name a month after Augustus, but it decided that since Julius's month, July, had 31 days, Augustus's month should equal it: under the Julian calendar, the months alternated evenly between 30 and 31 days (with the exception of February), which made August 30 days long. So, instead of August having a mere 30 days, it was lengthened to 31, preventing anyone from claiming that Emperor Augustus was saddled with an inferior month.
• To accommodate this change two other calendrical adjustments were necessary:
• The extra day needed to inflate the importance of August was taken from February, which originally had 29 days (30 in a leap year), and was now reduced to 28 days (29 in a leap year).
• Since the months evenly alternated between 30 and 31 days, adding the extra day to August meant that July, August, and September would all have 31 days. So to avoid three long months in a row, the lengths of the last four months were switched around, giving us 30 days in September, April, June, and November.
• Among Roman rulers, only Julius and Augustus permanently had months named after them—though this wasn't for lack of trying on the part of later emperors. For a time, May was changed to Claudius and the infamous Nero instituted Neronius for April. But these changes were ephemeral, and only Julius and Augustus have had two-millenia-worth of staying power."

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Manuscript

            "Not everyone who has a title is worthy of it; not all of us are born worthy of our names.  Octavian, the first emperor of Rome; it wasn't until defeating Marc Anthony and Cleopatra that the Senate awarded him the title of “August Caesar.”  Venerable, great Caesar.  Augustus Caesar was not born into his name, but through his actions and character earned it.

            He and my Grandfather share that name.  Auguste Francois Derendinger.  Yet what is in a name?  Is it something given to us at birth, or must we earn it through our actions?  Though my Grandfather shares such a prestigious name, he has always referred to himself by his middle name.

My Grandpa Francois has chosen to call himself something more humble, more personable; that is the sort of man he is.  Yet through the tests, the trials and tribulations life has presented him, he always responded with greatness.  His lifestyle, his character, his very being is ingrained with this greatness.  Greatness of spirit.  Greatness of heart.  Greatness worthy of recognition.  His august character was crafted, just as a fine blade is crafted by a master smith.

            The fires that forged and formed his raw nature into the shape of something great began during the Second World War, in Strasbourg, France.  Living on a border town with Germany, he spent his youth under constant siege by battles.  Battles of strength, battles of will and resourcefulness.  This was formulaic to his ethic.

            Being alone required great resourcefulness, yet this was not some selfish response to a subsistence need.  This resourcefulness resulted from his empathy for the needs of those around him.  He often found himself performing deeds of service for those less fortunate.  Eventually, he was presented with the opportunity to travel to the United States of America after France's liberation. His resourcefulness led him to the land of plenty.  Where else can one have the greatest possible impact on others?  Where else can one find the fruition of life's purpose?  The greatness within was waiting to be tested, and required the waters of opportunity for tempering.

            The tempering of his nature left him searching for ever greater ways to care for those in need.  Despite starting small, this process led to the actualization of his passion; he would often find someone in need, and using his great resourcefulness, find a way to provide for their need.

            This brought him to his profession as a broker.  His ability to help others grew. His sphere of influence grew.  His family grew.  The oils of prosperity and providence were applied onto the sharpening stone of the Spirit; one could be honed to shine, or lose their edge and luster forever.

            What makes a person great?  I would argue that greatness is doing the noble, righteous and Spirit-led thing despite having the ability to do otherwise.  Greatness is taking the blessings of God, and sharing them with the world.  Greatness is providing means for others to fulfill their path in life.  It is shining as brilliantly as Damascus steel and not letting selfishness cloud or mar the hue.  My Grandfather has always been an iconic figure, a representation of what is good in the world.  He has exemplified how to be a good man: at work, with family, and within the community.

            We see that this greatness is a result of choices.  The choices of one whose character is imbued with the spirit of those august individuals whose name he bears, sharing in their strength and purpose as a light unto others.

            Indeed, one more deserving to be called august I have not met.  Through bad times and good, through times of hardship and plenty, through providence and diligence he has proven his greatness.  With kindness, charity and generosity of spirit.  Through all that he does he has shown an uprightness reserved for those we hear stories of.  Stories that move us.  Stories that inspire us.  Stories that create in us a passion for righteousness and altruism, sadly all too missing in our day.  Truly, this greatness has earned him his name, even demands his acceptance of it.

            Auguste Francois Derendinger, I am proud to know you, and am moved by you to become a greater person."